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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1972)
page 4b page 5b a i , ,ii i - ti.n nM " ' " ...'"" 11 ii i r I LJi J K .& 'MuSt sJ ' i , : , . ''. -v:"T I t - . ' ny 1 -Dan Lsdely '.'I I y : I so th roaool if 2 t ' ''""" I., i , L by Jim Johnston Rich Glover is the most publicized college football lineman since Notre Dame's Leon Hart won the Heisman Trophy in 1949. He's had more re-runs on television than John Wayne. He draws outlandish priase from every opposing center and coach. They say he can make tackles from sideline to sideline. It's enough to make a guy get a little cocky. "I feel strange when I meet people," Glover said. "I feel like people are watching me and saying, 'Hey, there's Rich Glover, the big hot dog.' " But Rich Glover is not a hot dog. In fact, he's rather shy. "People come up to me and say 'Damn, you looked rrfean in that game. I thought you were about 6-5 and 260." But Rich Glover doesn't look mean around campus in his blue dungarees with rolled-up cuffs. His physical statistics are a more modest 6-1 and 234. His heavy, sleepy eyelids and soft, slow talk leave the impression of a gentle person. Gentle? Now, wait a minute. Isn't this the same Rich Glover who plays mickKe guard for Nebraska. The guy who had a hand in 22 tackles, recovered a fumble and finally crushed Jack Mildren against Oklahoma last year? The same Rich Glover who says "I try to let centers know they're in for a long afternoon. I don't say nothing to 'em. I just look 'em in the eye." It's the same guy, all right. But you wouldn't be able to convince people of it whew he's not in his football uniform. He's too quiet to be so mean. He's known by his teammates as "Cool Breeze," "Jersey" or "Frog." "My older brother Sonny hung that name Frog on me when I was a little kid," Glover said. "It has something to do with my big eyes and droopy lids. It don't bother me. They can call me what they want." Glover has always been shy, even during his grade school days in Jersey City, N.J. He is the fourth child in a family of 10. His father was killed in an accident when Rich was 11. "My mother was pregnant when my dad and it was really tough for a while," Glover said. "But we managed all right. We were never really poor." The Glovers lived in an eight-room, brown-shingled structure. Most of the houses in the Greenville section are similar. You can look across New York Bay at the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. It used to be a comfortable place to live, Rich said. There were several small stores where the fellas could hang out. And it was only a 15-minute trip through the "tube" (a tunnel under the Hudson River) to New York City. "Most of the stores are bare now," Glover said. "The Black Panthers scared . A I vp "W " tii, ... v. ' x . J ) . t ; rJl. Qlll...... ' -Bill Ganel 'em away. It used to be nice there, but its getting bad." The mayor of Jersey City was sentenced to a 15-year jail sentence a few years back for conspiracy. Glover first started playing football in Jersey City. He was in a Pop Warner football league at age 10. He practiced at fullback, but was switched to the line on the game day because he was over the 120-pound offensive back limit. By the time Rich was a 15-yuar-old freshman, he was six-feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. "I took an early liking to football," Glover said. "It was the only place where you could go out and hit people and not get locked up." Surviving the hiqh school football scene in Hudson County was not easy. Snyder High School was a step below most of the schools in the area in both athletic and academic programs. Only last year, Snyder revamped its program so that it might retain its accreditation. Snyder wasn't considered a football power in the area. But its reputation changed when Glover and his buddies were sophomores. The Snyder Tigers won three straight city championships in Rich's final three years. High School football in Hudson County was rough, even downright dirty at times. Glover recalls a game against Lincoln High School of Jersey City. Lincoln was rated No. 1 and was averaging 48 points per game. Snyder won, 12-0. On the last play of the game, a Lincoln I -Bill Ganzel I o go